Health and Family Security

The Department of Public Welfare (DPW) will end family planning coverage for almost 90,000 low income women currently enrolled in SelectPlan for Women, most of whom will be eligible for comprehensive health care coverage through Healthy Pennsylvania. Rather than ending the SelectPlan waiver, DPW should transition eligible SelectPlan enrollees into Healthy Pennsylvania and continue to offer SelectPlan as a choice for women who are not Medicaid expansion-eligible.

Several American cities have raised cigarette taxes as a public health measure and to generate local revenue for cash-strapped programs. These taxes are not as regressive as once assumed and can be an important part of a local funding package. Philadelphia has requested authorization from the General Assembly to add a $2 per pack tax on cigarettes sold in the city to raise an estimated $70-$90 million for its public schools.

View a map of Pennsylvania detailing county by county how many people, households, and children are impacted by a cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that took effect on November 1.

Learn more about the Governor's Healthy PA plan, what's at stake for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians in the ongoing debate over expanding Medicaid, and the latest on the Health Insurance Marketplace in Pennsylvania.

Beginning Tuesday, Pennsylvanians who are working but lack health insurance will be able to shop for and compare options for affordable coverage on a new competitive Health Insurance Marketplace established by the federal health care law.

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) show that Pennsylvanians have not made up for health insurance coverage lost during the Great Recession. Medicaid expansion is needed now more than ever, PBPC Director Sharon Ward said today.

“There is little to celebrate in this budget," says PBPC Director Sharon Ward. "It fails to adequately address the enormity of the funding crisis facing Pennsylvania schools. 80 percent of the cuts to classrooms are left intact, and that means higher property taxes and even larger class sizes in our schools.